


Fake Dating for Financial Reasons

by mothmansneighbour



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Idiots in Love, Insecure Keith (Voltron), Lance is a Tease (Voltron), Living Together, M/M, No Angst, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Roommates, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), hes also an emo twink sorry it just happened, keith has piercings, that should be a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:34:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29154396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothmansneighbour/pseuds/mothmansneighbour
Summary: Lance and Keith stumble upon the perfect appartement by chance, but the landlord Coran has a grudge against students trying to flat-share due to bad past experiences. They pretend to be a couple in order to snag the flat but slip into their fake relationship a bit too easily and neither seem very keen to drop the act behind closed doors.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 130





	1. What Are the Chances

„Hey, Keith?“

Keith’s eyes flicked up over the rim of his coffee mug to stare at Lance, eyebrows slightly raised. „Yeah, what’s up?“

„D’you wanna live together next year?“

They were both sipping their drinks in a cafe not far from their shared university when Lance had broken the comfortable silence — which is usually his job when it’s just the two of them or they would just sit quietly.

„Uhhh, what?“ Keith stared back at his best friend disbelievingly, it wasn’t like he thought he had somehow misheard him though, he just couldn’t believe that Lance would really want to move in with him.

„Yeah, you know, it just makes sense. ‘Cause, like, we’re both starting the new school year soon with nowhere to stay and I just thought that it wouldn’t be terrible to stay with you.“ He went on, taking Keith‘s disbelief as an invitation to keep talking.

„Wow, Lance, glad to know that you don‘t think I would be _terrible_ as a flatmate. Thanks for that“ Keith retorted, but without any real bite.

„Ugh, that wasn’t what I meant and you know it. What I’m trying to say is: will you please get a place with me?“ He looked over the small coffee table with a mock pout in the hopes of invoking some simpathy from the dark haired teen sitting across from him. „Pleeeaase? It‘ll be really fun, I promise. We‘ll get to hang out all the time and you can help me with my history stuff easier. Also Pidge and Hunk already have somewhere to stay so who else were you planning on living with?“

„Hmm, okay yeah, you got me there.“ Keith wouldn’t admit it out loud but he had been hoping him and Lance would be able to live together once they had to move out of the student accommodation offered to first years. „So how are we gonna do this? You already got somewhere in mind or...?“

Lance‘s expression quickly morphed into a wide grin at Keith‘s acceptance and he started on an exited ramble about the appartements he had seen online in the area around campus that „looked perfect for us, Keith“ and „would really work, but were kinda expensive, now that I think about it.“

„Lance, I know that you’re really happy to move but please bear in mind that you don’t even have a job and mine pays twelve pounds an hour. So before we get carried away and get somewhere we can‘t afford, let‘s look for an appartement together and see what we can find.“ Keith‘s realism brought Lance‘s chatter to a disappointed standstill.

„Yeah, I knowwww“ Lance whined. „But whatever, I‘m just happy that we‘ll finally be staying together. My current roommate kinda sucks.“

Once Lance had finally finished slurping down his drink and Keith‘s long cold coffee cup was cleared away, they made their way back in the direction of the university while the taller of the two kept up a steady stream of comments and observations about the properties he was pointing out on either side the street they were walking down.

„Oooh, what about that one?“ Lance interrupted his mutterings about the flat Hunk and Pidge had been telling him about earlier that day to gesture at a relatively old looking, semi-detached building to their right. “Hmm, Keithy what d’you think? Pretty nice, huh? And look how close we are to uni. We could probably get there in, like, ten minutes if you weren’t such a slowpoke.“

Keith had to admit that this building was one of the better ones Lance had suggested on their walk back to school but he also didn’t want to get his hopes up too much, as it definitely looked too expensive for them even if Lance did finally get a job like he had promised a few streets ago. „Don’t call me that.“ He snapped, even though he didn’t really mind his friend‘s affectionate nicknames for him. „Why don‘t we go check it out though? There‘s a _For Rent_ sign out so we might even have a chance.“ He continued in a more fond tone.

-

They ventured up past the light blue painted gate together and looked down at the names on the doorbells, looking for the one that matched the name on the sign on the fence advertising a two bedroom apartment, for rent immediately.

„Coran‘s kinda a weird name, right? What d‘you think they’ll be like, Keith? Lance asked after ringing the bell beside the landlord‘s name, who apparently also lived on the bottom floor of the four story building.

Before Keith had a chance to answer, the front door swung open and the mysterious Coran appeared in front of the boys. He was definitely not what either of them had imagined, his ginger — but it was really more of a bright orange — moustache hard to look away from as the two teens tried to find the right thing to say to a potential landlord. Luckily they didn’t have to as Coran was the one to break the short silence with a laugh and a cheerful „So, how can I help you boys, then?“

„Umm … we just saw the sign out front and thought maybe … we could look at the appartement or something?“ Keith answered uncertainly, not meeting the man‘s eyes.

„Oh, well why didn’t you say so sooner? Of course I‘d love to welcome a lovely pair like you in to have a look. Come on in!“ He said while smiling kindly.

Lance and Keith made their way past Coran and followed his directions up to the third floor appartement that was advertised outside. Once at the door, painted a classy brown with a silver knocker and everything.

_Wow, we definitely can’t afford this place. Who even has door knockers anymore?_ Keith thought to himself.

Coran pulled out a set of keys, opened the door and gestured for them to follow him inside. After hesitating slightly, Lance made his way into the pleasant looking flat followed by a more reluctant Keith. With rather small windows, hardwood floors, a somewhat outdated kitchen and green walls in what looked like the living room, it was a pretty nice place.

_Definitely too expensive though, it’s big and in a great location. No way we‘re getting this flat._

But Lance, ever the optimist, had started up a conversation with the somewhat strange landlord, who seemed more than happy to answer his questions. „So Coran, if that‘s even your real name, how much is this place?“

„Good question my boy, since this was originally my brother‘s building that he left to me, I don‘t have to sent the rent too high so it‘s really just what you would be willing to pay.“

Now Keith was definitely listening. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. „Well take it!“ He said confidently, speaking up for the first time since entering the flat.

„Wonderful!“, Coran exclaimed, „It’s been too long since there’s been a young couple in this old building. It would be a nice change, since between you and me, all these seniors really do make a gentleman like me feel a little old.“

„Haha … yeah totally,“ Lance chuckled uncertainly, „But uhh … what do you mean couple?“

„Oh, didn’t you read the sign? I don‘t rent to students looking for flat-shares, it says that very clearly. They’re just too much trouble, always have been, especially after the ones who moved out of this very appartement. But you two are obviously wouldn’t be wasting the time of an old man like myself so you two must be a lovely couple, right?“

„Yep, definitely read the sign on the gate. Fully absorbed all the info and didn’t just come right in after seeing _for rent_. We would never do anything like that. But that‘s too bad though“ Lance said, looking dejected.

Coran looked as if he was about to reply but before he could get a word in Keith sprung into the conversation again.

„What do you mean _dear_? That’s totally fine, right?“ He said, putting a bit too much emphasis on _dear_ while giving Lance a pointed look. He was not about to miss out on this prime housing just because the owner had some weird grudge against people living with their friends. The brown haired boy only looked confused for a second before realisation passed over his features and he caught on to what Keith was trying to do.

„Yeah, totally … babe. I just meant, uhhh, that it‘s too bad, what happened with the other guys before us.“ Lance glanced at Keith to gauge his reaction at his attempted save and also the pet name. Keith felt his cheeks heat slightly. One of the windows must be open and letting the early summer breeze in. Yeah, that‘s definitely it.

This seemed good enough for Coran, who continued on with his story about the supposedly terrible previous tenants. „Yes, a rather unfortunate turn of events. One of the boys actually managed to _flood_ one of the bedrooms, leaving me with quite some damage to repair. They also painted the walls this _lovely_ green colour which I haven’t gotten around to covering up yet. Whatever they were studying at university, interior design was certainly not on the curriculum.“

„Aw man that really sucks, Coran. But rest assured, if you would be so kind as to rent to an awesome couple like us, we would never do stuff like that, promise.“ Lance assured the older man standing in front of them. He reached out for Keith’s hand, though he wasn’t sure if it was to show that they were definitely together or simply for emotional support. Either way Keith didn’t complain, giving the taller boy´s slightly larger hand a quick squeeze, prompting him to glance over and flash a warm smile his way.

As unconvincing as Lance‘s guarantee seemed to Keith, it was encouragement enough for Coran to continue on with his sales pitch.

„Perfect, and how soon are you two looking to move in then. Assuming you haven’t changed your minds about taking it?“


	2. Moving In

A few weeks later an enthusiastic Lance was trying to hoist his bedframe up the slightly too narrow stairwell, with Keith a few steps behind him carrying most of the weight.

„Dude, I‘m lifting this whole thing. I know I‘m stronger but you have got to help.“ Keith was not having the best time during the whole moving in thing and even though he knew he wasn’t really stronger than Lance his statement still made Lance want to lighten his load, intentially or not.

„Hey! You are so _not_ stronger than me. Watch!“ And with that Lance tried to carry the whole bedframe by himself, which obviously didn’t work and just scratched the walls. „Fuuuuck, ummm how mad do you think Coran will be when he sees that we‘ve already damaged the place?“ Lance, who had promised they would be model tenants, asked.

„Yeah he‘s not gonna be happy about this.“ Keith replied sympathetically.

-

As the day was nearing its end and most of their things were shoved into their new appartement, yet to be fully organised, the two teens were making their way back up the stairs for the last time for the day when Keith pointed out just how bad the scratches visible on the paint of the hallway were.

„Hey man, I know, I can see them and- hey, stop laughing- yes I know they‘re really bad but- duuuude don‘t just laugh at me, he‘ll be just as mad at you too, you know?“ Lance tried to tell a snickering Keith, who obviously thought that him immediately breaking his vow to Coran was somehow funny. Have some compassion Keith, come on. But his laughter suddenly stopped, making Lance stop his whining to look up at him questioningly.

„Please don‘t freak out,“ was all Keith said in a low voice before he was taking a step into his personal space and then another, raising one of his arms up to rest his hand against the wall beside Lance‘s head, boxing him in and pushing his back against the wall while hopefully covering some of the scratches.

Keith could feel his face getting slightly warmer but chose to focus on his friend‘s state instead. Lance didn’t seem to be doing too well, if he was being honest. His face matched to red of their kitchen appliances by now and had opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he had a chance to recover and ask the questions Keith knew were coming, he heard the voice that had sprung Keith into action. Coran was making his way up the steps towards their flat and would surely see the new additions to the walls, curtesy of the boys.

The two teens stayed frozen in their position, silently waiting for their landlord to make his way round the corner and catch sight of them and the damage. His jolly voice cutting through the quiet, „Are you two getting settled in yet? Did you manage-„ he looked up and saw the two of them, Keith pining Lance against the wall, faces bright red and eyes fearful as they looked back at Coran. „Oh, well, I can see that you both seem rather, umm, preoccupied right now, so I might check in again tomorrow. See you then boys“ Coran didn’t seem very eager to intrude on what he presumed to be a private moment between two young lovers, so he turned on his heel and made his way back down the stairs.

„I am so sorry, Lance, really, I know that was probably really weird, I- I- … umm … I just heard Coran coming and, well, he thinks we’re a couple and I knew he‘d be mad about the walls and-„ Keith stumbled back a few steps and started his rambling apologies as soon as the moustached homeowner was out of earshot.

„Dude, relax, it‘s fine, that was totally quick thinking back there. You probably saved our necks. Who knows how fast he would have chucked us out if he saw the walls.“ Lance chuckled as he reassured his friend, even though they were both still looking pretty flustered. It wasn’t like it had to be strange, they were just two guys trying to keep their great appartement by pretending to be dating. Best friends probably do stuff like that all the time. „But we should definitely fix this before he comes back though.“

-

The hardware store was a massive warehouse filled to the brim with items neither of the teens knew how to use. So far they had passed the isles containing woodworking equipment four times.

„Come on, it‘s paint, why would they hide it from us?“ Keith groaned. They had been wandering around for the better part of half an hour looking for one simple bucket of paint for the beige hallway of their new flat. Their fruitless search was getting more and more frustrating by the minute.

„Well maybe we should just ask someone who, y‘know, works here and _knows where they keep their paint_??“ Lance pointed out even though Keith had adamantly refused to bother someone on their shift. Lance had pointed out multiple times that they were here to help people like them who didn’t have a clue about home improvement, but his friend had a strong aversion to striking up conversations with strangers and he had to come to terms with that. „How long do you think we‘ll have to keep up the whole _couple-act thing_ by the way?“ He steered the conversation away from the topic of paint and brought a tan hand up to rub the back of his neck, almost looking shy.

Keith was forced to think back to the embarrassing incident at the house, where he had pressed Lance against the wall in a destinctly _couple-y_ way to avoid a confrontation with their new landlord Coran.

„Uhhh, don‘t remind me about that. I _really_ wasn’t thinking back then, I just didn’t want to get evicteced as soon as we moved in.“

„Hey hey, it‘s cool, really, I didn’t even mind, promise.“ Lance grinned, pushing the shopping cart he insisted they needed even though they were here for one thing. „But we should probably talk about this. ‘Cause Coran fully believes that we‘re together and _will_ evict us if we keep being like those other guys before us who damaged the place and were just buddies. Actually don‘t you think it‘s kinda weird for him to only let couples and single people live there? Like what??“

„Yeah that is pretty strange. But I don‘t really mind telling him we‘re a couple if it means we get to stay.“

„Haha yeah, totally, same, don‘t mind at all. It‘s just convenient, y‘know. Makes sense. Yeah“ Keith shot Lance a slightly concerned glace but smiled fondly at his stammering.

„Are you sure, because I don‘t want to make this weird or anything. You sure you‘re comfortable with this? We could probably still find somewhere else.“

„What? No way! I mean, uhh, our flat is great so why would we want to move? And I swear it‘s really not that big of a deal. It‘s totally cool, man.“

„Okay, just checking.“ Keith led the way further down the isles, now displaying paint stripper but no paint.

-

The checkout wasn‘t difficult to locate and they _finally_ made their way out of the store, having found the paint eventually. Lance was listening to Keith‘s excited monolog about this new series he had started, _my hero academy_ or something, he wasn’t completely sure. For some reason he had trouble focusing on exactly what his dark haired friend was saying even though he was definely focusing intently on his mouth, which was moving a mile a minute, so Lance really didn’t know what the problem could be. Deciding not to worry about it too much, he went back to smiling warmly at his friend - now also his flatmate, he thought happily – and let him talk at him about someone called _Aizawa._


	3. Getting Settled

The hall didn’t actually take too long to fix, even if the paints were slightly different colours. Hopefully Coran wouldn’t notice. The two friends collapsed onto their disassembled sofa and decided that their work was done, it had been a really long day of moving after all, even without the added task of repainting part of the hallway that got scratched.

„Damn, I could really go for take-out. Whatcha say Keithy? Pizza?“ Lance asked from where he had made himself comfortable on the sofa cushions, head in Keith‘s lap like he usually did when he was feeling sleepy. Or sad, or bored, or happy or whenever the opportunity presented itself really. But that was just because they were such good buddies and felt so comfortable around eachother. They were living together after all so that must prove that they were the best of friends.

„Dude, don‘t call me that. Also don‘t think that just because we live together now that you can get me to eat as unhealthily as you. It‘s not good for you,“ Keith said before continuing, „but if you‘re paying I‘ll get a hawaiian.“ As much as he tried to hide it, there was definitely something distinctly smile-like going on with his lips.

„Oh get off your high horse about healthy eating, you literally just asked for pineapple on pizza. Y’know … Like a weirdo. I‘m not about to take dietary advice from you.“ Lance crossed his arms over his chest in mock indignation but he couldn‘t help but grin slightly. „But yeah fine, I‘ll get you your horrible pizza,“ he grumbled, turning around to face away from Keith, not letting his head leave the other‘s lap as he pulled out his phone to order.

-

Once that was done and the food was scheduled to arrive in about thirty minutes, that left the two boys with nothing to do but start actually unpacking their things, beyond just dumping their suitcases in their rooms and leaving their combined furniture in the living room.

„Hey Lance?“

„Yeahhh?“ Came the replay from across the house.

„You wouldn’t happen to know where we left the case with my winter clothes in it would you?“ Keith was in his room digging through the pile of fabrics on the carpeted floor he hoped contained his pyjamas.

„Ehhh, nooo, I don‘t think so. Did you check the living room? Maybe it‘s in there?“

„Yeah, I already looked and it wasn’t. I‘m looking for my pjs and I can‘t find them.“

Lance appeared in his doorway, leaning against the doorframe and looking down at Keith. He smiled at the chaos that was Keith‘s room but didn’t comment on it.

„Hey, if you want you can just borrow something of mine? Don’t worry about finding stuff tonight.“ Keith blinked up at Lance before grinning back lazily after a few seconds and accepting the offer with a nod and a quick thanks.

-

The doorbell rang to signify the long-awaited arrival of their dinner, prompting Keith to make his way down the hallway towards the front door slowly, exhausted from a long, strenuous day of moving but hungry enough to get up and fetch his food himself, not wanting to wait for Lance to get up and get it.

He collapsed onto the still not fully set-up, old ikea sofa, pizza boxes in hand and called out to Lance to join him, who emerged from his room, took a piece of his own peperoni pizza and sat down beside him on their grey couch.

Wordlessly Keith leaned to the side until he was pressed up against Lance, head resting on his friend‘s slightly bony shoulder, munching quietly on his own slice of pizza. Lance shifted his arm around Keith to reach for the TV remote but didn’t think to remove it again after the series the teens were watching started playing. Lance was usually the one to initiate any sort of snuggling, and it sometimes caught him off guard when Keith decided to return the affection. Not that he didn’t like it. On the contrary, Lance loved being able to be so close to his best friend and it was comforting to know his feelings on the matter where returned.

„Lance?“ Keith‘s soft voice barely registered over the sounds of the screen in front of them.

„Hmm?“ Lance looked down at him, all interest in the series suddenly lost.

„You don‘t regret moving in with me do you?“

„What? Of course not! Why would I?“ Lance really didn’t understand what would have made him ask something like that all of a sudden.

„I don‘t know, I mean usually you don‘t sign up to having to pretent to be a couple infront of your landlord when you get a place with your friend, and I thought that maybe you wouldn’t like it, since it was me who started the whole pretend relationship thing without really asking and stuff.“ Keith‘s face turned further away from the eyes peering down at him through the semi-darkness of the living room.

„Keith,“ Lance said, lifting his hand to the other boy’s cheek, softy tilting his head back up to look him in the eyes, „Even though you are a reclusive, mullet wearing emo who doesnt even know how to unpack a suitcase-„ Keith rolled his eyes and elbowed Lance in the ribs „-there isn‘t anyone I‘d rather be fake dating.“ He finished, smiling softly.

„What a sap,“ Keith muttered but seemed relieved all the same, shifting to rest more comfortably between the crook of Lance‘s arm and his side.

-

The TV was still on when Lance woke up the next morning, very disoriented from not only being in a completely new house but also from not even being in a bed. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and was about to stretch his arm that had fallen asleep, when he noticed that it was being pinned to the back of the couch by something. He turned his head slightly and was greeted with the sight of Keith, sleeping soundly, curled up against him wearing one of Lance‘s old T-shirts. Lance‘s heart was overflowing with _something?_ He thought his best friend was cute but this was just too much. _Wait what? He‘s never thought Keith was cute?? He was literally a greasy emo with overgrown hair, he‘d even said so yesterday._

„Hmm weird,“ he hummed to himself but didn’t dwell on it for too long, instead abondoning the subject of his confusion alone on the sofa in favour of searching for something to eat. He was probaly just really hungry, that was it. As soon as he got up Keith tipped over without anything to keep him upright and promptly started complaining.

„Hey! What was that for? I was sleeping here you know!“

„Yeah well now you‘re not. So what are we gonna do about breakfast? Im starving.“

„Ughhh I don‘t know. Go to the shops or something, I’m going back to sleep.“ He lay down on the cushions and threw an arm over his eyes. „Actually bring me back a coffee or something.“ And with that he was out like a light.

_Wow, thanks Keith, leaving me to fend for myself in a new neighnourhood. I don‘t even know where anything is, so don‘t blame me if your coffee‘s bad._ Lance thought grumpily.

-

His search for a decent coffee shop finally came to an end after about fifteen minutes of slightly aimless strolling in the crisp morning air. The place he found looked nice enough from the outside and to be honest Lance was getting a bit fed up, so he decided to take a look inside. He was welcomed by the smell of baked goods as he made his way up to the counter to place his order, wondering what sort of thing Keith would appreciate him bringing back.

After a short conversation with the person behind the till, he was waiting for two drinks and an assortement of sweet buns, probably too much for two people for breakfast but Lance felt like they deserved a treat after the tiring day they had yesterday.

„Can I get a name for your drink?“ the person working the cash register asked, kind of androgynous looking with interesting yellow hair.

„Oh yeah sure, it‘s Lance,“ he replied with a cheerful grin that was not returned.

„And who’s the other one for?“ They sighed, seemingly bored by this interaction. Lance couldn’t blame them, he knew what working in the service industry was like – extremely dull — from his horrible and very short-lived job in a restaurant during high school.

„My boyfriend.“

_Huh? Why did he lie to this random barista about that. It wasn’t like he was really dating Keith, it was just a pretence when Coran was around._

Before Lance could get too worked up about this weird slip of the tongue, he was handed his order and he made his way back out, stumbling slightly on the step by the door.

He didn’t spend too long agonising over his choice of words though, as he arrived back home quicker than expected and shoved all thoughts of boyfriends and yellow-haired-baristas aside.

Keith must have heard him come back because as soon as he had opened the brown wooden door leading into the appartement, he was on Lance, pestering him and trying to see what he had bought. Apparently Lance had taken too long to bring back breakfast and Keith was not happy about it.

„Ughh Lance, I‘m starving here. It‘s been ages, where were you? What did you get?“ Keith was grabbing at the bag in Lance‘s firm grip.

„Oh Keithy, why so impatient? Just wait a second and lemme get my shoes off first, damn.“ Lance teased his irritated roommate with a smirk. „And as I remember it, you asked for a coffee, so what could you possibly be so exited about?“

„I know you got other stuff too, lemme seeeee.“ Keith whined. He looked so adorable with his annoyed pout, standing barefoot in the hallway.

_Huh, odd, first the thing when we woke up, then at the coffee shop and now he was thinking his grouchy roommate was what? Cute? Because he wasn’t cute, not at all. He was a mean teenage boy who was trying to shake Lance down for food at the moment._

„Yeah yeah and you also know I‘m gonna give you some anyways so just chill out.“ Lance toed off his trainers to walk into the kitchen. They didn’t have a table but the island was more than enough for the two of them. He plopped down onto one of the chairs and unpacked the bag. The two of them ate in silence, broken by Lance once he had finished his muffin.

„Hey, so you know how I should probably look into getting a job?“

„If we want to be able to make rent, then yeah, that would be ideal, I think“

„Well I really hit it off with this barista at the coffee shop I got all this stuff at, so maybe they could put in a good word and I could try getting hired there?“

„Mmh, sounds good“ Keith grunted noncommittally „Oh Coran said he‘d swing round today to see how we got settled in. We should probably tidy up a bit and maybe finish unpacking and stuff.“

„Mhmhhm,“ was all he got in response, Lance‘s mouth too preocupied with his croissant to answer.


	4. Burning Up

„KEITH!! Oh my GOD, KEITH!! In the kitchen! Come quick!!! KEITH?!!“

„Lance I swear to god! What did you do?“

„JUST COME!!“

The kitchen was on fire. Keith sprinted through the flat to see smoke emanating from the toaster, which was definitely very much alight.

„What the hell Lance??! Why is the TOASTER on fucking FIRE???“

„I don‘t _know,_ I put my cheese toasty in and then I noticed it smelt kinda weird in here but I didn’t think too much of it but then the toaster caught on fire and WE‘RE SO GONNA GET EVICTED FOR THIS.“

Before Lance could continue, Keith unplugged the source of the fire and grabbed a blanket lying on the ground nearby to throw over to toaster. Damn okay, so they weren’t actually going to die just yet. But that still didn’t solve all of their problems. Now the number one issue facing them was the damage caused by this unfortunate mishap on Lance‘s part. The walls behind the blackened toaster were tinged a similarly burnt colour as well as part of the ceiling. The whole house also smelt of smoke by now. _Hmmm, not ideal._

Before either teen could say anything to eachother, the doorbell rang. Just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, their nosy landlord just had to come over right at this very moment.

The pair shared equally panicked looks, both completely lost as to how they were supported to react in a situation like this.

„What do we do? We can‘t let him in!!“

The doorbell rang again.

„Well he definitely knows we‘re here, since you just shouted my name through the entire appartement.“

„Oh, good thinking Keith.“

„What?“

Without any further warnings, Lance started calling Keith’s name in a strangely breathy voice, along with other weird noises- _wait was that a moan?_ Keith covered Lance’s mouth at lightning speed. Face growing darker and darker with embarrassment.

„Lance, what the FUCK was that???? What are you _doing_??!!“ He hissed, releasing the other boy from his grasp. _Talk about mortifying, what was Lance even thinking? Why was he standing in their kitchen at two in the afternoon moaning his name._

„Uhhhhhh, I just thought that would stop Coran from trying to break down our door, y’know if he thought that we were fu-?“ Lance tried, not quite sure how to explain himself before Keith’s hand was firmly back on his mouth again.

_Oh right, Coran._ Keith had totally forgotten about him. Now that he thought about it, it was kinda quick thinking on Lance’s part and it _had_ made the problem disappear as far as he could tell. Didn’t make it any less _completely humiliating_ though.

The two of them stayed silent for a few seconds before deciding that Coran had probably left. Without a word, Keith started to clear up the remains of the kitchen fire, turned away from Lance so he couldn’t see his flaming face.

-

„Heeey Keith, so about earlier-„ Lance started, peeking his head through Keith‘s partially open door to look for him after he had left the kitchen.

„Don‘t worry about it.“ Was all he got in response.

„Ehh yeahhh, ummmm … I‘m really sorry, I know it made you uncomfortable and that‘s so not cool. So I get it if your mad and-„

„I’m not mad, I promise. It just caught me off guard is all and I was just thinking about that job with the barista you were telling me about. Also now our landlord heard us supposedly, y‘know … doing stuff and that‘s pretty embarrassing. We moved in YESTERDAY Lance“

„… Yeah I know … Okay, well as long as you‘re not angry at me.“ _Why was Keith thinking about the barista from earlier?_

„I‘m not. Promise“

-

The next time they encountered Coran was about a week later as they were both making their way to university, classes having just started back up again.

„Well hello there boys!“

They both jumped and whipped around to see who could possibly be calling out to them on their own doorstep. Keith instantly turned back around once he realised who it was and was fully about to just walk on as if nothing had happened but Lance was quick to grab his wrist to keep him from fleeing.

„Coran! How are you? We haven’t seen you in ages!“

„Yes it‘s been too long young Lance. I‘m doing great and so are you two, I presume? You know I couldn’t help but overhear something the other d-„

„Okay well good chat Coran, talk to you later!“ Lance interrupted, now eager to let Keith drag him from the conversation.

Once out of earshot of the pesky old man, Keith groaned into Lance‘s shoulder and accepted the arm slung around his neck. They didn’t say anything but just walked together in embarrassed silence.

_How likely is it that we never have to interact with that guy ever again?_ Keith didn’t like their odds.


	5. The Art of the Deal

It had become somewhat of a routine now for Lance to wake up on weekends before Keith, nip down to the bakery-slash-coffee shop a few streets over and strike up friendly conversation with the person working the register. Their hair was now a neon green and they had started replying with more than one word at a time. Lance was going to get that job in no time. For some reason Keith didn’t seen to enjoy these updates as much as Lance thought he would, given the fact that it was Keith who egged him on to try and find somewhere to work from the beginning.

-

Later that evening Lance was having a crisis.

„Keith, my best friend, light of my life, most beautiful and smartest person of all time?“

„What do you want?“ Keith looked up from his computer suspiciously, eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what sort of request Lance could have at eleven at night.

Lance gasped in shock, „Why would you think that just because I called you my friend that I want something from you? I’m offended Keithy!“

„You still haven’t answered my question.“ Keith was now certain that he wasn’t going to enjoy whatever Lance was about to say.

„Oh well yes, so … you know that history essay thingy I was telling you about before?“

„Yessss?“ Keith didn’t like where this was going at all.

„Well it turns out it‘s actually due in about an hour and not tomorrow like I thought.“

„And what does this have to do with me?“ Keith knew he would end up writing it, like he usually did with Lance’s history stuff, but didn’t want to resign himself to his fate just yet.

„Well since you‘re just _soooo_ good at all that ancient history stuff I thought that it might be easier if you could perhaps help me with my essay. Y‘know like the loving boyfriend you are?“

„Don’t say that, we‘re only dating when Coran‘s around.“ Lance tried not to let those words hurt too much. _Wait why would that hurt? Nevermind, focus on the matter at hand, Lance._

„Keith pleaaasssee, I‘m begging you.“ He was on the floor now, having flopped down gracelessly to invoke sympathy or something. „I can‘t do it before midnight but I know that you‘d be able to.“ He was making his pityful way across the rug in front of the sofa on all fours towards Keith, who was sitting with his arms crossed sternly, having set his laptop aside for the full effect, although his strict demeanour was somewhat undermined by the grin threatening to spill out onto his face at his friend‘s antics.

„And why would I do that, huh? Doesn‘t sound very fun for me.“ Keith wasn‘t going to give in so easily this time. He had been up late too many nights speeding through Lance’s work last year and he didn’t really want to make it a habit this year as well.

Keith had taken his eyes off Lance to glare at the ceiling in order to regain his composure but when he looked back he couldn’t quite keep the shock off his face.

„Please Keith? I‘ll do whatever you want.“ Lance‘s voice definitely sounded a bit lower and he had moved from where he had been sprawled on the carpet to _Oh my god why is Lance between my legs? When did this happen?_ One of his hands was on the sofa beside Keith‘s hip and the other was resting on his thigh. Keith’s wide eyes were met by Lance’s dark ones, which were way to confident for someone on their knees begging. „Oh Keithy, you know you’d be doing me a huge favour.“ His finger was tracing invisible patterns on Keith’s leg.

„Uhhh … I- I- … Ummm … okay?“ Keith stuttered out, mind racing at the sight in front of him.

„Great! Thanks so much, you‘re the best Keith!“ Lance jumped up from where he had been kneeling to sprint off into his room, presumably to grab his laptop.

Keith didn’t know what to think, he just sat there waiting for Lance to return, blushing furiously. _What the fuck was that?! Did Lance mean for it to be so … so_ hot _? Nevermind I have an essay to write, I‘ll have to unpack that later. Maybe when I’m alone or something. Oh my god don‘t think that! That just made it weird. Pull yourself together Keith._

_-_

The essay was sent in past the deadline, for some reason Keith was off his game that night, but Lance didn’t seem to mind too much and insisted they watch a movie or something afterwards to „unwind after a needlessly stressful history essay induced crisis“ as he put it. So once both of them were situated on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them, they started the series that Keith had been trying to tell Lance about while they were out buying paint a few weeks ago. Keith had apparently already finished it but was eager to rewatch it, especially with Lance, who he knew would listen to his extended commentary without complaint.

The opening theme tune quickly dispelled any strange thoughts Keith may or may not have been having about the guy a few inches to his right. He really had to get that image out of his head but the more he tried the harder it got ingrained into the back of his eyelids. _Lance, on the floor in front of him, on his knees, spreading Keith‘s thighs, looking up at him with eyes half-lidded and- Nope! Nopenopenopenope- not happening. He was NOT thinking about that,_ especially _not when the man in question was RIGHT THERE. Also why was this affecting him so much?? Lance oviously hadn’t meant anything by it. Yep this was definitely just Keith being weird._ He turned his attention back to the screen, currently showing some kids with superpowers beating each other up in an abandoned building. _Not the type of show to be blushing while watching, damn it_ _Keith._

Lance glanced over at the teen sitting beside him on the sofa, dark hair rumpled at the back by the couch cushions and hand suspended close to his mouth, popcorn between his slender fingers. Lance couldn’t help his thoughts drifting away from the TV and back to the incident at the cafe earlier that day. It had felt so nice to call Keith his boyfriend, he also really didn’t mind having to act like they were together either. In fact he even felt himself missing the times when Coran wasn’t around. _Hmm weird. Well anyways, back to this show._

_-_

By the time the episode was over it was well into the night and neither of them were really paying attention to the series anyways, so the decision to turn in for the night was mutual. They both cleaned up the remains of the popcorn and made their way to the shared bathroom and after brushing their teeth for well over ten minutes — why did everything always have to be a competition with them? — Keith pulled out his hairbrush as usual to give his longish hair a quick brush before tying it up to go to sleep. Lance found himself unable to look away as his friend stood beside him and dragged the red hairbrush through his — let‘s be honest here, it‘s one hundred percent a mullet, there’s no disputing it — but for some reason it looked so much nicer than when he had last noticed it. Softer too, almost like he‘d want to run his fingers through it _._ Lance sighed to himself as he applied his night cream, slightly more distracted than other evenings.

„Well, Goodnight Keith, sleep well“. He called out as he made his way down the hall towards his bedroom.

„Night Lance, see you tomorrow!“ Keith smiled at his retreating figure.


	6. Keith Gets Hotter

Keith woke up early the next morning to the familiar sound of Lance‘s voice travelling through the house at a pitch slightly too loud for such an early hour, along with another voice he couldn’t immediately place.

_Oh, what’s Coran doing here?_ He wondered once it dawned on him.

„Yeah we’ve been together since high school.“

„Mhm yeah high school sweethearts, I know.“

„We’re loving this place by the way, yeah super duper, thanks for letting it out to us Coran, really appreciate it.“

“Yes! I totally have my eye on a job, I’ve even got a recommendation now and every thing. Yeah I only just met them but they’re super helpful.”

„Yeah, I know, I love him so much, even if he does sleep in all morning.“

Keith could only make out Lance’s side of the conversation but smiled and flopped back onto his bed nonetheless, getting the gist of what they were talking about and ignoring the slight twinge of something like jealousy at the mention of that cool barista Lance was always going on about. He covered his face with his hands and fought the blush rising up his cheeks. _It isn’t even a big deal. Lance is just keeping up the charade, he doesn’t even mean what he’s saying._

Even though he knew all those things in the rational part of his mind, the rest didn’t seem to have gotten the memo. His blush hadn’t fully subsided by the time he had gotten changed into his clothes for the day, brushed his hair and made his way out into the kitchen in search of Lance and food.

„Ah there he is, the little charmer himself!“ Coran exclaimed once he caught sight of Keith, creeping towards the fridge.

„Huh?“ Keith asked, charm on full display.

„No need to be shy, Lance was just telling me about you“

Lance gave Keith a sympathetic glance which he returned. He can’t imaging that having a one-on-one conversation with Coran at eight in the morning could be all too agreeable. The man was a bit much to take in so early. Luckily for them, Coran´s phone started ringing before he could turn his questions onto Keith as well.

„Oh, sorry about this boys but duty calls. A landlord must always be ready to spring into action at a moments notice. I better be off now but I’ll be back around soon to hear the end of your story.“

-

Lance weaved a sigh of relief once the door was firmly shut behind the old man.

„Sooo … what brings you out of your room this early? I wasn’t expecting to see you until at least noon.“ He teased, swivelling around on his barstool.

„Ugh shut up. So what I like to sleep in, it’s the weekend. Sue me.“ Keith went to punch Lance in the arm, but his grogginess must have affected his speed because Lance moved out of the way easily, springing off the chair and grabbing Keith around the waist and pressing him against his chest, lifting his feet off the tiled floor easily.

„No need for such violence, especially so early Keithy. I’ve barely had a chance to annoy you yet.“

Keith grumbled something unintelligible in reply.

Lance set him back down on the floor lightly and turned to open the fridge, only to be met with depressingly baren shelves.

„Well Keith, I’m glad you’re up because that means we get to go shopping together. Whatcha say?“

-

The nearest supermarket was a short walk away from their building but they managed to get side tracked several times, peering into the stores that piqued their interest on the way. Keith spotted a piercing shop that must have opened fairly recently, as he’d never noticed it before.

„D´you think I’d suit a lip ring Lance? I mean, I don’t wanna like … overcrowd my face or something.”

Lance looked up from the pebble he had been kicking for a while to scrutinise his best friend’s face.

“Hmmm, I think any piercing would look good Keith, honestly. And you could probably fit a couple more in before it gets too crowded.” Lance’s eyes jumped around Keith’s face as he said that, from his eyebrow piercing he had gotten in high school, to his ears, which contained the majority of the metal in this body, to his nose, fitted with a black ring on one side and finally down to where his shirt was covering the belly button peircing Lance knew was hidden there. “Why d’you ask? Wanna go get one now or something?”

“Well I mean we’re here now … and I’ve wanted one for a while, just wanted to get your opinion first.” Keith glanced up at Lance and was met with blinding enthusiasm.

“Hell yes! Then operation get Keith a lip ring is ago!” He announced.

“It’ll probably be a pretty short mission since the piercer’s right there and we can go get it done, like, right now.”

They crossed the street together in order to inspect the shop from closer up. The inside seemed new and definitely a better option than Keith’s parents bathroom, which is where his first piercings, his earlobes, were done by fifteen year old Lance and a safety pin. Yeah, that wasn’t the best idea they’d ever had. Wasn’t the worst either.

“How can I help you guys today?” came a friendly voice from further inside the store.

“Oh hi … uhhh, do you umm … take … walk-ins?” Keith was staring intently at the floor in front of him.

“Sure do! You know, we just opened so you’ll be one of our first customers.” The lady speaking looked to be in her thirties and had quite the assortement of tattoos and jewellery. She smiled, welcoming them both inside. “So what are you two looking for?”

“Oh, my friend wants to get his lip pierced.” Lance answered and gestured to Keith, who had his arm latched around Lance’s waist.

“Ah perfect, well if you want we can get you sorted right now?” They walked into the back where the actual piercing takes place.

While Keith got a piece of metal shoved through his mouth, Lance had to stay in the waiting room at the front of the shop, idley pacing the varnished floor and looking at the jewellery displayed in the cases lining the walls. It seemed like the helpful woman currently in the back with Keith was the only one working at the moment so Lance was forced to wait in silence. However it didn’t take long before the two of them appeared at the resister, Keith with his wallet out to pay for his newest pricing and the lady behind the counter.

“So how does it feel? Does it hurt?” Lance wanted to know as soon as he had Keith to himself again.

“Eh kinda, it just feels wierd when I try to talk and I won’t be having spicy food for a while.” He pouted slightly at that but quickly stopped when it seemed to hurt.

Keith looked good, _unfairly good in Lances option_ , even while pouting and _especially_ good with his new lip ring _._ It just added his whole pale emo twink look, with his slim build, defined jaw and shaggy black hair, pulled out of his face at the moment with an elastic band even though Lance always told him how bad they were for his spit ends.

The new piercing gave Lance a wonderful excuse to admire his best friend, whose eyes were currently searching his for some sort of reaction. _Oh, did he ask me something?_

„Earth to Lance? Hello?“ Keith waved his hand in front of the taller teen’s face.

„Yeah, sorry, totally zoned out there. What did you say?“ He asked sheepishly, feeling slightly guilty for not even hearing what his friend had said.

„Ah, just wanted to tell you that we’re here.“ He turned to look at the entrance of the supermarket they had originally set out to find.

-

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Coran, who surely would have spiced it up somehow, was nowhere to be seen, leaving Keith unsure if he was feeling relieved at not having to interact with the quirky old man or disappointed that it wouldn’t give him an excuse to be all _couple-y_ with Lance. He had seemed so out of it after the piercing place, _maybe he didn’t like the lip ring after all?_ Well whatever, Keith thought it looked good and that was enough for him, no need to wonder if Lance thought the same thing.

He boy in question was currently in the kitchen, insisting that they couldn’t leave any dishes out overnight and not wanting to have to clean up after they finished playing video games, which usually ended about at about one in the morning. Keith didn’t fully agree, finding it much easier to just deal with the plates as late as necessary, but also didn’t want to make his roommate do all the housework. This meant that he did what Lance instructed him to with an appropriate amount of complaining.

Lance sent Keith out of the kitchen to set up the console while he put the last of the dishes away and Keith didn’t need to be told twice, drying plates wasn’t exactly the most exciting task he could have been given.

The TV was on and displaying the character selection screen of their game of choice when Lance entered the living room through the open doorway leading into the hall. His silhouette outlined but the bright light of the hallway against his back. Keith had to admit that he spent slightly too long outlining his shape with his eyes, and would probably have looked away sooner, had he not been sitting in the dim glow of the television where Lance would hopefully not notice him checking him out.

„Hey mullet, quit staring and budge over.“

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as subtle as he thought.

Keith quickly moved from the middle of the sofa in order make space for Lance who immediately sat down on his controller.

„Dude, get up, you‘re totally trying to sabotage me by breaking my controller!“

„Obviously I‘m not, come on. I can beat you fair and square and you know it.“ Lance knew what he was in for when he uttered that challenge — a night of absolute obliteration — but it was still funny to watch Keith get all worked up.

„Take that back right now! I always win so _obviously_ you can‘t take me fair and square. Just wait and see!“ Keith was in full competitive mode now and there was nothing to do except accept defeat, which Lance was never going to do, no matter how often he had lost this particular game in the past.

As the night progressed both teens were finding it harder and harder to keep their eyes open and their rivalry going. Lance was managing to get a rising amount of wins in, the drowsier his opponent got but had to eventually admit defeat to the ultimate foe: sleep. Keith also succumbing to the enemy soon after, both crashing on the couch much like they had the first night after moving in.


	7. These Bitches Gay. Good for Them

Keith really had to stop waking up pressed against his friend‘s side. It was doing strange things to his stomach _and his neck_ , he thought, cracking it. Not that he was actually complaining, no way, the view was too nice but it was just something to note. Lance was still fast asleep, eyes moving slightly behind closed lids, chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm as Keith tried to extract himself while causing the least amount of disruption possible. He succeeded and turned triumphantly to make sure the other teen‘s snoozing hadn’t been interrupted, but his breath caught in his throat when he finally got a good look at Lance, resting calmly against the sofa in shorts and a baggy T-shirt which had ridden up slightly during the night, exposing part of his tanned stomach and the top of his boxers. Keith had to look away, for fear of somehow tarnishing this moment of tranquilly. He crept into the kitchen to check the fridge for milk and get breakfast started for the two of them.

-

Lance blinked and lifted his head to investigate the smell wafting in through the hall about twenty minutes later. Keith had music playing at low volume and he could hear him singing along quietly in the kitchen. The brown haired boy couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of Keith making eggs while dancing along to his horrible emo music.

Lance made this way slowly down the hall, stretching and peering through the open doorway of their kitchen towards the stove, where his roommate was standing with his back to him, stirring something in a pan and swaying his narrow hips destinctly not to the beat of the _my chemical romance_ song currently drifting through the air, mixing with the sounds of frying.

„Morning Keithy“ Lance said softly, not wanting to startle his friend.

„I thought I told you not to call me that?“ He didn’t need to see Keith to know that he was smiling while he said that, the warm tone indication enough, but he was glad he could. His rare grin and new lip piercing sending blood rushing to Lance‘s cheeks, his blush partially hidden by his convenient tan.

_Hmmm maybe there was something behind all this blushing and heart-fluttering. Maybe._ He was somewhat lost in thought while Keith pulled out two plates from the cupboard unter the counter, slightly too short sleep shirt flashing a glimps of his pale back as he bend down. Not that Lance was looking or anything.

„So, got any plans for today?“ He asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the pair seated beside each other at the island.

„Oh … not really … I was kinda hoping that we could just hang out here or something? If you want to, that is.“

„Yeah, sounds good. I want a rematch since you fell asleep in the middle of me winning yesterday.“

„Hmm, actually Lance, I‘m pretty sure I remember it happening a bit differently.“ Keith smirked, prodding the boy‘s side with the wrong end of his fork.

„Well we‘ll just have to see about that, wont we mullet!“ Lance annonced confidently, the competitive glint from yesterday back in this eyes.

„Prepare to get your ass handed to you yet again, Lance.“

And with that they raced off towards the sofa, cushions and blankets still strewn around the floor from last night´s intense gaming session, both aiming for the best seat in the house which was in the centre of the sofa where it dipped down and the cushions where shaped in the perfect way to support your back and give your opponent the added disadvantage of being slightly off centre, thus throwing off their game. Or so both of them thought, there wasn’t really any conclusive evidence either way. But the point was, they both fully believed that spot would the their key to victory.

Lance reached it first. _Damn him and his long legs,_ Keith cursed as he contemplated what to do. _Take the arguably much worse seat on either side of his smug friend or somehow battle it out_. Keith, ever the optimist, chose the second option, lunging at the taller boy and trying to drag him away from the coveted center seat. Lance was not having that and promptly grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him back onto the sofa behind him. As strong as Lance was, Keith was nimble and able to worm out of his grasp, jumping forward and attaching himself to his front, arms around his neck.

„Let go you grabby little emo!“ Lance screeched, trying to pry Keith from his chest.

„Never, or at least not until you give up this seat!!“

„Ahhh!“

The two of them tipped backwards, Lance pushed down by Keith‘s wriggling, causing them to end up sprawled on the sofa with Keith peering down at Lance quizzically, hands resting on either side of his head, thighs straddling his waist.

„Keith, umm … you might want to get off“ Lance said after a few long seconds of silence.

At that, Keith‘s questioning gaze turned into a cocky grin as he understood the situation. More specifically the situation befalling the teen beneath him.

„You‘re right, I do want to get off. Maybe you could help with that?“

Lance‘s face had never felt hotter, seemingly all of his blood rushing to his cheeks and neck. Well not _all_ the blood.

_Since when was Keith so damn smooth? Actually that‘s not the main question here._

„Keith, are you being serious right now?“ Lance was trying so hard to stay rational, despite the weight pressing on his hips and the sudden proximity to his friend‘s slightly flushed face „ ’Cause I really hope I‘m not misinterpreting anything here.“

„You‘re _definitely not_ , Lance,“ Keith replied slightly breathily. He looked down at the boy underneath him and all of his emotions from the last weeks bubbled up to the surface. He dipped down to capture his friend‘s lip with his own, pausing just short of touching.

Lance bridged the gap between them, closing his eyes and letting one of his hands make it‘s way around the back of Keith‘s neck, pulling him closer.

Keith reacted by sinking down and letting all his weigh rest on Lance, who seemed more than content at the comforting pressure on his chest, his other hand venturing up to caress the newly exposed skin of his back. Keith couldn‘t surpress a sigh at the touch to the small of his back and deepened the kiss, tentatively licking into Lance‘s mouth, taking the groan he received in return as confirmation that it was alright.

Lance‘s hands both traveled upwards, one reaching into black hair, the other snaking further up his back, pushing his shirt up before moving back down over the sensitive skin of his stomach, making his muscles twitch at the sensation.

„Is this okay?“ Lance asked gently, breaking the kiss but staying close, breath fanning over Keith‘s parted lips.

„More than.“

Keith dipped his head and attached his mouth to the smooth skin of Lance‘s throat, lingering to leave some open mouthed kisses before licking upwards and sucking down behind his ear. Lance seemed to _really_ enjoy that, Keith noted, smiling against his neck as the teen in question griped his hair and let out some rather appealing sounds.

„Mmmmh Keith … your uhhhh … lip ring“

„Yeah, what about it?“ Keith‘s mouth moved to nibble experimentally at his ear.

„It just feels … huhhh … nice.“

„Glad to hear that Lance.“ Keith chuckled from where he was leaving a trail of butterfly kisses on his way back to recapture his lips in a kiss much more heated than the previous ones.

They both let out a groan as Keith rolled his hips slightly while shifting upwards for better access to Lance‘s mouth, the two of them suddenly more aware of their position on the old sofa again. Keith was still above Lance, knees resting on either side of his hips, arms moving up his sides exposing almost his entire chest with Lance stretched out under him, hands tangled in his T-shirt and hair, which was now beyond messy.

„Was that alright?“ Keith asked this time, sitting up slightly.

„Yeah, perfect.“

„Wanna keep going?“

„Yes, please.“ Lance sat up to meet Keith in the middle, shifting him by the hips so that he was fully sitting on his lap now.

„Ughhh Lance…“

Lance looked up from where he had been kissing along Keith‘s collar bone to meet his eyes. Deep purple with pupils blown wide gazed back at him, looking pretty blissed out from behind half-closed eyelids.

„What is it? Is something wrong?“

Keith shook his head in answer and pulled himself flush against Lance with his arms around his back, fingers and nails trailing up and down, pushing at his shirt, then slowly pulling it up and over the other teen‘s head.

„Better,“ he sighed into Lance‘s shoulder, who was currently preoccupied with the place Keith‘s jaw met his neck, leaving as little skin unmarked as he could.

„You too?“ He asked once he detached himself from Keith‘s once pale neck, studying his face while pushing his shirt up his stomach.

Keith just raised his arms to let Lance remove the unwanted item of clothing before dropping them again to run his hands along the muscle tangible under the tan skin of Lance‘s stomach.

Lance seemed similarly enamoured with the new skin on display on Keith, eyes roaming and lingering on his piercing in the center of his stomach before he was drawing out sounds from the dark haired teen as he kissed and touched his way down his chest and abs while pushing him onto his back.

„Mhhh, feels so nice, Lance.“ He sighed, removing one of his hands from Lance’s body to cover his eyes with his elbow.

Lance stopped his kissing and teasing once he reached Keith’s waistband, flicking his eyes back up.

„What do you want Keith? I‘ll do whatever you ask me to.“ Lance looked at him through his eyelashes, eyes full of lust and something sweeter.

„I want- umm … I want you to kiss me again. On the mouth.“ Keith decided and Lance happily obliged, shifting to align their bodies from hips to mouths again, pressing Keith back into the material of the couch as he layed kiss after slow, languid kiss on him. He could feel the heat emanating from the body beneath him as he rocked his hips down once, just to see what would happen.

„Nnnng .. do that again … ughhh … please“ Keith whimpered, bringing his hands back up to cover his face, biting down slightly on one curled finger.

Lance was more than happy to fulfill this request as well, moving his hips slowly into Keith‘s a couple of times and receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from him. He was titling his hips upwalds, as if following Lance but was still trying to muffle his sounds with his hand. After a few more groans hidden behind his finger, Lance took Keiths‘s hands in his own, slowly pulling them away from his face and onto the sofa cushions behind his head, lacing their fingers together.

„Are you okay with this?“

„YeeEHHes“ Keith‘s answer was was punctuated with another gentle press of their hips, causing his breathing to become more shaky. „Yes, this is amazing“

Lance leaned down and kissed up his neck, keeping Keith‘s hands pinned above his head, the intensity of his movements picking up along with the sounds exhaled by the writhing body below him, legs hooked up around Lance, keeping up a steady stream of praise and shaky breathing.

„Mmmhh Lance I‘m .. ummm close?“ Keith groaned, somewhat uncertainly.

„Me too, Keith. What do you want me to do?“

„Ummm … go … faster?“ and before we could say anything else Keith felt himself pressed back into the sofa as Lance picked up the pace as instructed. Keith‘s vision went white for a second as he let out a blissed out moan into Lance‘s shoulder as he clasped his fingers tighter around the other boy’s hands.

„Ughhh yes keep going!“ He instructed, feeling the heat in his stomach rising. Keith doesn‘t think he‘s ever felt this good in his life and as much as he doesn‘t want it to end, he also couldn’t get enough friction right now.

Lance was doing his best to keep up his work on the shorter teen‘s neck but couldn‘t really concentrate with the feeling of Keith underneath him and the noises he was making, he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on kissing up Keith‘s collar bone. Swapping that in for just dragging his tongue over the sensitive skin and occasionally pressing his lips down in a chaste kiss. He could also feel the pressure increasing between them and was doing his best to keep up.

Keith opened his eyes without realising he‘d shut them and was immediately pushed over the edge. The sight of Lance leaning over him, face red and eyes half shut, gazing down at him was all it took and he was gone. Head thrown back and back arching, groaning something that sounded like Lance‘s name, who was quick to follow.

They lay together on the couch, arms and legs entangled, for a while before Keith suddenly shot up, „Oh my god! I should have said this earlier but I think I‘ve fallen in love with you, Lance.“ Keith looked back at Lance with an expression of genuine concern on his face.

„Oh well that‘s a relief, since I wanted to tell you the same thing.“ He smiled affectionately up at the object of his adoration.

„So are we, like, boyfriends now?“

„Yeah sure, if you‘re up for it.“

„Is that supposed to be a challenge?“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u made it this far then thanks for reading !! pls drop some stuff to improve in the comments


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